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Believe it or not, I have met Quakers who
insist on organized maps. These players
insist that every design should flow in
a logical and consistent manner, with no
disorder or ambiguity in the design. If
you're one of those poor unfortunate souls,
stop here. Because this is SO not your map.
Butchered Creatures sprawls erratically
in numerous directions, expanding in clumps
seemingly without rhyme or reason. Like
any skybox map, the design incorporates
a single structure floating in space. On
the first floor, a number of medium-sized
platforms either hang off of its sides or
are carved into its interior. They are linked
by numerous corridors and half-stairways,
some of which cut through the interior of
the map, while the remainder skirt around
the exterior of the structure. Access to
the higher levels can be found at the base
of each the numerous curving support beams,
where jump pads await. The two upper floors
merge into a variety of terraces on slightly
different elevations, punctuated by a variety
of tilted bulkheads. Some of the faces of
these beams appear to be ramps (but are
too steep), while other, more functional
ramps are hidden in the jumble. At the top
of the heap is a small covered pavilion,
surrounded by several different sloping
beams and a free-standing plateau. Strapped
on one side of this who arrangement is the
much smaller second floor, which consists
of a single walkway runing solely along
one side of the map. Although I am not opposed
to chaotic maps per se, this one did cause
me some consternation. Especially on the
upper levels, players were apparently left
to blaze their own trail on where to go,
leading to much clumsy scrambling between
the various features. The somewhat random
upper floor narrowly treads the boundary
between an unconventional (but acceptable)
layout and one not particularly friendly
to player navigation, and stands out sharply
in contrast with a traditionally defined
lower area. It all just seems a bit disjointed.
(B-)
Speaking of blazing his own trail, Kona
has put together an interesting collage
of textures from a number of sources, most
notably several of Rorshach's Headhunters3
sets. The major theme here is red brick,
with floors and walls tiled in crimson ceramic,
and secondary panels set in tan stone and
rusted metal. Highlights are done in turquoise
in some places and burnished steel in others.
This texture set doesn't quite jel together,
but at the same time it is hardly aesthetically
slipshod. The practical illumination presumably
comes from the skybox, which is a tranquil
setting sun set above tropical blue waters.
The board is lit at a fairly constant level,
and is more than sufficient for the playing
surface. Still, it seems odd that with no
visible light fixtures some areas are brighter
than others. In sum, this somewhat eccentric
environment is just slightly off the mark.
(B-) |
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For gameplay, there are some things you
would expect and others you wouldn't. First,
the obvious. BC has all the usual dangers
of your typical skybox map. Faced with the
usual sorts of weapon knockback and ledges
everywhere you turn, most players will take
a long walk off a short platform at least
once. Additionally, lower ledges are only
sometimes visible from the upper levels,
forcing players in a hurry to choose whether
to take a blind chance and jump, or to go
to the edge and peer down (which poses its
own dangers). With no logical scheme underlying
the arrangement of consecutive floors, blindly
dropping down from one level to another
is a real leap of faith. Now, for what you
don't expect. First, I found that the jump
pads played little role in the action. Although
they are the only game in town for moving
up from one floor to another, their speed
and their ricochet trajectory (along the
beams) prevents players from laying down
much in the way of anticipatory fire at
landing zones. Instead, conflicts are brutally
direct and conducted at devastatingly close
range. The irregular shape of rooms and
platforms and the unforgiving size boundaries
enforced by ledges puts a hard edge of desperation
into confrontations. Especially on the upper
levels, where the exact contours of the
map are rather vague, players scramble frantically
across the map's jumble of features, all
the while engaging in the ugliest sort of
smash-face DM. Strict space restrictions
greatly limit maneuvering or DM finesse,
replacing it only with the ugliest sort
of tactless in-your-face butchery. (Not
that this is a bad thing) Weapon placement
is pretty uninspiring, but functional nonetheless.
The SG and the RL both sit near jump pads
on opposite corners of the rectangular bottom
floor, while the GL squats in the map's
largest room, a blocked-in cellar set into
in another corner. On the second floor,
the YA and the LG face each other at opposite
ends of the small walkway that basically
makes up the whole floor. Oddly, the one
place I expected there to be a weapon–
the pavilion at the top– stood empty,
while the PG and the RG were placed on nearby
beams. Overall, an odd assortment of features
combine to create gameplay that is brutal
and fast paced, which has little tolerance
for players who expect to dance about in
their usual manner. (B)
A very odd map, in nearly every respect.
With a piecemeal texture scheme, and an
irregular layout divided between clearly
defined areas below and a hodge-podge of
features above, this is a map with a bit
of an identity crisis. Although the lack
of clear form in places may frustrate some
players, it does keep most combatants on
their toes by being so very different from
the typical DM venue. This, in combination
with the space restrictions imposed by the
presence of so many drops, blunts matches
into sledgehammer-style slugfests. Not for
everyone, especially those who don't take
well to floater maps. (B-)
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